Road grader attachment



June 14, 1960 K. s. BANKS ETAL ROAD GRADER ATTACHMENT 3 Sheets-Sheer. 1

Filed Aug. 26, 1957 Omar A Pol'ndexfer INVENTORS @330- BY first June 14, 1960 K. s. BANKS ETAL 2,940,193

ROAD GRADER ATTACHMENT Filed Aug. 26, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet. 2

62 Kenneth 5. Banks 0 Omar A. Pa/ndexfer IN VEN T015 June 14, 1960 K. s. BANKS ETAL 2,940,193

ROAD GRADER ATTACHMENT Filed Aug. 26, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig. 6.

I I /20 11; 124 I v 1 ib Q Kenneth S. Ban/rs Omar A. PaIhdex/er IN V EN TORS United States Patent 2,940,193 ROAD GRADER A'ITACHll/IENT Kenneth S. Banks and Omar A. Poindexter, Fowler, 7 Filed Aug. 26, 1957, Ser. No. 680,171

Claims. (Cl. 37- 9-143) This invention relates in general to new and useful im: provements in road graders, and more specifically to an auxiliary blade attachment for road grader moldboards.

As the scraper blade of a road'grader attachment makes a 'pass along the surface, there is a build up or a' shoulder formed at the trailing end or edge of the'grader blade. This build up is undmirable inasmuch as either an additional pass of the road grader is required in order to level the build up or it is necessary to hand level it. In either event, this is a time consuming operation. a

It is therefore the primary object of this invention to provide an improved auxiliary blade attachment for road grader blades, the attachment being' of such 'a nature whereby it is mounted on the training end of a road grader moldboard and normally projects outwardly therefrom so that the material which is normally fedoff the end of the road grader blade is forced inwardly into the road grader blade and spread evenly by the road grader blade during the scraping and spreading operation;

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved auxiliary blade attachment for road graders, the attachment being in the form of a relatively short blade which is disposed at the trailing end of the moldboard of the road grader and which normally projects outwardly from the mold board at an angle to the direction of travel of the road grader whereby the material which normally forms a build up or shoulder at the trailing end of the moldboard will be forced inwardly as is desired by varying the angle of the auxiliary blade with respect to the moldboard so that an even spreading action with the moldboard over the surface being scraped and spread is accomplished.

Another object of this invention is to provide an im proved blade attachment for road graders, the attachment being in the form of a short blade which is disposed at the trailing end of the moldboard of the road grader and which cooperates with the blade of the road grader to provide an even spreading action without the build up of material at the trailing end of the moldboard, the attachment including a very simple mounting bracket whereby it may be readily secured to the moldboard of existing road graders with a minimum of modification to the moldboard.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved auxiliary blade attachment for moldboards of road graders, the attachment being soconstructed whereby a blade may be disposed at the trailing end of a moldboard and positioned as is required to urge the material which normally forms a shoulder'at the trailing edge of the moldboard towards the moldboard and scraper blade of the road grader to provide an even spreading action.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the ac-.

companying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Ice

Figure l is a vertical sectional view taken through a combined moldboard and scraper blade of a road grader and shows mounted on one end of the moldboard the auxiliary blade attachment which is the subject of this invention, the specific details of a mounting bracket of the attachment being clearly illustrated;

' Figure 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the trailing end of the moldboard and shows further the details of the auxiliary blade attachment;

Figure 3. is a side'view of the auxiliary blade attach: ment and shows the manner in which the auxiliary mold: board and blade portion of the attachment are adjustably attached to a support plate;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 4-4!- of Figure l and shows the specific details of the auxiliary blade attachment, the attachment being illustrated removed from the moldboard;

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantially upon'the plane indicated by the section line 5--5 of Figure 2 and shows the manner in which elements of the turntable are locked against rota-- of the road grader remains the same irrespective of the angle of the moldboard with rmpect to the main part of the road grader.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that there is illustrated in Figures 1 through 5, inclusive a first form of auxiliary blade attachment for road graders, the auxiliary blade attachment being referred to in general by the reference numberal 10. The auxiliary blade attachment 10 is mounted on a road grader moldboard 12 which has a lower blade portion 14. Although the blade portion 14 has been illustrated as being an integral part of the moldboard 12,111 the majority of the road graders this of course be a separate removable The auxiliary blade attachment 10 includes a mounting bracket which is referred to'in gener al by the reference numeral 16. The mounting bracket includes a vertical leg 18, a horizontal leg 29 and an arcuate leg 22, the arcuate leg extending between the extreme ends of the legs 18 and 20. Further, the arcuate leg 22 has a curvature conforming to the curvature the rear upper part of the moldboard 12, as, is best shown in Figure 1, The arcuate leg 22 is provided with a plurality of apertures 24 best shown in Figure 4 through which mounting bolts 26 pass, the mounting bolts 26 being usedto secure the mounting bracket 16 to the nioldboard '12.

Carried by the horizontal leg 20 of the mounting bracket 16 is a turntable which is referred to in general' by the reference numeral 28.- The turntable 28 includes a fixed lower plate 30 whichis secured, to the horizontal leg 20 by means of welding or other suitable fastening means 32, Overlying the lower fixed plate 36 and rotatably positioned thereton is upper plate 34. The upper plate-34 is rotatably carried by a vertical pivot bolt 35 whi h P ses h h he. u pe p te 4, h o r ate 3: andthe' horizontal leg 20; Carried by thenpperplate '35. for rotation therewith is a' hinge which is referred to in general by the reference numeral 3. The hinge 38 includes a pair of hinge trap 40 h sh a id cu e t the pper P te 34 and are disposedin spaced parallel relation; The

7 upper end thereof is 3 through the hinge eyes 42 is a hinge pin 44 which is horizontally disposed. The hinge pin 44 carries at the ends thereof other hinge eyes 46 which are parts of depending hinge straps 48, best shown in Figure 3.

Carried by the hinge 38 is an auxiliary blade which is referred to in general by the reference numeral 50. The auxiliary blade 50 includes a vertically disposed support plate 52 which is secured to the hinge straps 48 by welding 54 or other fastening means. Secured to the support plate 52 is a vertically disposed moldboard 56 which in turn has secured to the lower part thereof a removable auxiliary blade portion 58, the blade portion 58 being secured to the auxiliary moldboard 56 by means of fasteners 60.

In order that the moldboard 56 may be adjusted so as to tilt rom one end to the other, it is hingedly mounted on a bolt 62 which extends through the central part thereof and a lower part of the support plate 52. A second bolt 64 retains the moldboard 56 in an adjusted position with respect to the support plate 52. The sup, port plate 52 is provided with a plurality. of arcuately arranged apertures 66 through which the bolt 64'may assures has its lower end rigidly secured to the lower plate 30. Each bracket 98 also includes a horizontal leg 102 which overlies the plate 34. The horizontal leg 102 is provided with a bore 104 receiving a shank 106 of a retaining pin 108. The retaining pin 108 also includes a head 110 which projects above the plate 34 and serves to facilitate the positioning of the retaining pin 108. Aligned with the bore 104 is an opening 112 in the lower plate 30. A plurality of openings 116 are formed in the upper plate 34, -as is best shown in Figure 2. The lower end of the shank 1 06 is'in the form of a special end 118 which requires that theend 118 be aligned with the openings 104,.106 and 1'12 to permit the removal selectively pass to retain the moldboard 56 in the desired 'angular position. a

Extending vertically along the center of the support plate 52 is a brace arm 68. The brace arm 68 is secured to the. support plate 52 by means of-the boltr62.

A second 'bolt .70 also serves to'secure the brace arm 68 to the support plate 52. When the moldboard 56 is in a level position, the bolt 64 also 'passes'through the brace arm 68. a p

Carried by the upper plate 34 remote from the hinge.

' 38'is a mounting bracket 72 which includes a pair of upstanding ears 74.- Extending betweenthe ears 74 is aipivot bolt 76 on which there is joumaled a sleeve'78 I pensated for.

of the retaining pin 108. i a V The auxiliary blade attachment 10 is generally soadjusted with respect to the moldboard 12 whereby it is disposed at a slight angle to the longitudinal axis of the road grader. Thus the auxiliary blade 50 extends outwardly and forwardly of the trailing end of the moldboard 12 and that material which normally passes olf of the trailing end of the moldboard and forms a shoulder is continuously urged back towards the moldboard and is evenly spread by the blade portion of'the road, grader to eliminate the formation of a shoulder 'at the trailing edge of the moldboard. By varying the position of the auxiliary blade 50, variations in conditions may be com- Inasmuch-as the blade 50 is attached to the trailing edge of'the grader blade, it is normally not desired thatit berbtated rearwardly about the back of the grader blade, butforwardly inasmuch aslthe grader blade slopeslrearwardly.

7 Referring now to Fi'gure G-in particular, it will be seen :7 that there areillustrated portions of a road grader which secured to the lower end of an elongated rod 80. The I rod 80 has the upper partthereof extending through an opening 82 in an upper part of the brace arm 68.

Slidably mounted onthe brace rod 80 adjacent the a bearing block 82 which bears against an inner face of the brace arm 68. The bearing block 82 has engaged therewith a washer 84 which is in turn resiliently engaged by a coil spring 86 carried by an intermediate portion of the brace rod 80. A second washer 88 is disposed at the opposite end of the coil spring 86 and is positioned thereon by means of a stop nut 90 which is threadedly engaged on an externally threaded lower portion 92 of the brace rod 80. A lock nut 94 is also provided to retain the stop nut 90 in an adjusted position. As is best shown in Figure 4, the stop nut 90 is so adjusted whereby the coil spring 86 will retain the auxiliary blade 50in a vertical position. Any tendency of the auxiliary blade 50 to move outwardly about the hinge pin 44 results in the compressing of the coil spring 86 and the resilient'urging of the auxiliary blade 50 to its original position. Thus when the auxiliary blade 50 strikes a relatively movable object,

' a 22 will be varied. That is the. purpose of the turntable automatic-adjusting means are referred to in general by the reference numeral 120. The road grader 120 includes a moldboard 122 which is carried by the road grader for adjustment about a vertical axis. The moldboard 122. will have connected thereto (not shown) which will perrnit the adjustment of the moldboard 122 during the operationof the road grader 12h. The moldboard 122 is supported from a turntable 124 which is in turn supported by a'suitable frame structure 126 of the road grader. Carried at the trailing end of the moldboard 122 is an auxiliary blade attachment which is referred to in general by the reference numeral 128. The auxiliary blade attachment 123 is identical with the auxiliary blade attachment 10 with the exception of the fact that the retaining pins 108 and the required openings in the brackets 98 and the plates 30 and 34 areeliminated. In lieu of this, there are provided automatic adjusting means which are referred toin general by the reference numeral 130. The automatic adjusting-means 130ineludes an arm 134 which overlies the hinge straps 4t) and is secured thereto as by welding 132. The arm 134 has pivotally connected thereto'by means of a pivot pin 136 a control arm 138. The inner end of the control arm 138 is pivotally connected by means of a pivot pin 140 to .a bracket 142 carried by the frame, 126. Adjustment of the auxiliary blade50 with respect to the moldboard 122 is initially accomplished by selectively placing the pivot bolt 136 in one of a plurality of aper:

tures 144 formed in the outer end of the control bar 138.

28. By rotating the upper plate 34 with respect to the lower plate 30, it willbe seen that the auxiliary blade '50 may be disposed at board 22 and thus at;the

the desired angle to the,mold- V desired angle to the longitudinal axis'of the road grader.

to ingeneral'by the reference num'e'ral 96.

that each of theretaining units 96 Inforder that the upper plate 34 may be retained in an adjusted position with respect] w to the lower, plate 30, there .is. provided a. pair-of re taining units, each of are retai i g unitsibeing referred Once, the initial adjustment-of the auxiliary blade 50 has been accomplished, then'this. relationship between the auxiliary bl'adeSit andthe longitudinal axis of/theroad grader is maintained, automatically byAthe automatic adjusting meansIfIAt-this time", "it ispointe'dfoutthat it is the angular -relationshipbetween the' auxiliary blade 50 and the longitudinal axis of the road gradenwhich-is the angular relationship betweenthe irnportant' and not 7 I h V auxiliary blade 55 andthe moldboard. 1

At'this time it is pointed'o t that the brackets 98 are retained in the auxiliary bladeattachment 128 inasmuch as the horizontal leg 1&2 thereof functions as a holddown for the upper plate 34. This is also true in the auxiliary blade attachment 10.

From the foregoing desorption of the auxiliary blade attachment, it will be readily apparent that there has been devised a highly effective auxiliary blade attachment which when mounted on the trailing end of a moldboard of a road grader will cooperate with the scraper blade of the road grader to properly level a surface without the buildup of a shoulder at the trailing end of the moldboard. Also, it will be readily apparent that the auxiliary blade attachment in its simplest form may be secured to the moldboard of an existing road grader by merely drilling a few holes in the moldboard and passing bolts therethrough. in a more complicated form of Figure 6, it is necessary to add the mounting bracket 142 in addition to forming the holes in the moldboard.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. An auxiliary leveling blade attachment for road grader moldboards, said attachment comprising a mounting bracket having means for attachment to a road grader moldboard at one end thereof, a turntable carried by said mounting bracket, and an auxiliary blade carried by said turntable for selective positioning at one end of a road grader moldboard, the connection between said turntable and said auxiliary blade including a hinge having a horizontal axis, and resilient brace means connected to and normally retaining said auxiliary blade in an upstanding position.

2. An auxiliary leveling blade attachment for road grader moldboards, said attachment comprising a mounting bracket having means for attachment to a road grader moldboard at one end thereof, a turntable carried by said mounting bracket, and an auxiliary blade carried by said turntable for selective positioning at one end of a road grader moldboard, said turntable being horizontally disposed and including a lower fixed plate secured to said mounting bracket, a vertical pivot pin, an upper plate resting on said lower plate and journaling said pivot pin, said auxiliary blade being connected to said upper plate for rotation therewith, the connection between said auxiliary blade and said upper plate including a hinge having a horizontal axis disposed parallel to the general plane of said auxiliary blade, and a resilient brace extending between said auxiliary blade and said upper plate.

3. An auxiliary leveling blade attachment for road grader moldboards, said attachment comprising a mounting bracket having means for attachment to a road grader moldboard at one end thereof, a turntable carried by said mounting bracket, and an auxiliary blade carried by said turntable for selec positioning at one end of road grader moldboard, said turntable being horizontally disposed and including a lower fixed plate secured to said mounting bracket, a vertical pivot pin, an upper plate resting on said lower plate and journaling said pivot pin, said auxiliary blade being connected to said upper plate for rotation therewith, the connection between said auxiliary blade and said upper plate including a hinge having a horizontal axis disposed parallel to the general plane of said auxiliary blade, and a resilient brace extending between said auxiliary blade and said upper plate, said auxiliary blade including a vertical support plate, and an auxiliary moldboard adjustably mounted on said support plate for selective pivoting about a transverse horizontal axis, said auxiliary moldboard including a lower blade portion.

4. An auxiliary levelling blade attachment for road grader moldboards, said attachment comprising a mounting bracket having means for attachment to a road grader moldboard at one end thereof, a turntable carried by said mounting bracket, and an auxiliary blade carried by said turntable for selective positioning at one end of a road grader moldboard, said turntable being horizontally disposed and including a lower fixed plate secured to said mounting bracket, a vertical pivot pin, an upper plate resting on said lower plate and journaling said pivot pin, said auxiliary blade being connected to said upper plate for rotation therewith, the connection between said auxiliary blade and said upper plate including a hinge having a horizontal axis disposed parallel to the general plane of said auxiliary blade, and a resilient brace extending between said auxiliary blade and said upper plate, and means connected to said upper plate for selectively positioning said upper plate and said auxiliary blade.

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein said resilient brace includes a brace rod, a coil spring concentrically carried by said brace rod, a bearing block carried by said brace rod engaged with said spring, a brace arm rigidly fixed to said auxiliary blade, said spring resiliently urging said bearing block into engagement with said brace arm to retain said auxiliary blade in a vertical position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,466,464 Beatty Aug. 28, 1923 1,843,260 Arnold et a1. Feb. 2, 1932 1,987,729 Bash Jan. 15, 1935 2,011,777 Ritchie Aug. 20, 1935 2,067,168 Baumgardner Jan. 12, 1937 2,601,380 Flory June 24, 1952 2,718,718 Bartlett Sept. 27, 1955 

